After Nearly 30 Years In Exile, This Kashmiri Singer Has A Hit Song Of The Summer
A love song about wildflowers by a would-be militant turned folk singer is the hit song of the summer on both sides of the India-Pakistan border in Kashmir, a Himalayan valley that's been the site of fierce fighting and territorial disputes for decades.
"Ha Gulo" — which translates to "Oh Flower" — is the rare Kashmiri-language song to achieve commercial success internationally; in July it was featured on Coke Studio, the longest-running TV music show in Pakistan, while its music video has, in less than a month, received more than a million page views combined on YouTube and Facebook.
In its video, four bearded, middle-aged men dressed in traditional cloaks, bright yellow caps and colorful sunglasses bob their heads to electronic snapping their fingers in unison and dancing around the stone ruins of what looks like an ancient castle.
